MONTREAL – These are the times when players must believe in their coach, and he must believe in them. It’s a two-way street and the Devils keep making U-turns, going round in dangerous circles in heavy pre-playoff traffic.

When the Stanley Cup champs visit the Canadiens here tonight, it will be the second stop on a five-game road trip. Should they score, it will be their first goal of the journey.

The Devils appear headed to open the playoffs on the road, and the only two series they’ve lost since their 2000 Stanley Cup have come lacking their faithful home-ice advantage. They lost the 2001 Finals to Colorado, and the 2002 first-round to Carolina, their last playoff ouster.

They stand 15-8-7 on the road this season, but are 1-3 in their last four away from home, the lone victory being their 7-3 thrashing of the Rangers at the Garden Feb. 21, which qualifies as a rivalry anomaly. The three losses have been by a 10-2 margin, in Philly, Washington and Toronto.

They play a different game on the road, one where the checking line is even more pre-eminent. John Madden, whose goal drought has reached 27 games, one-third of a season, gets the lion’s share of ice-time against opponents’ gunners. The Devils’ scoring line gets yanked when the home coach throws out his offensive stars.

But while the Goal Every Game (GEG) Line of Scott Gomez, Patrik Elias and Brian Gionta was turning into the EGG Line, as in goose-egg, in Saturday’s 3-0 loss in Toronto, Burns went further. Too far, perhaps.

Since the “A” Line was destroyed by Lou Lamoriello, Devils fans haven’t seen the sort of magic the GEG Line produced after Valentine’s Day. That, not coincidentally, was one day after their players-only meeting in which sources say they agreed not to let Burns’ style derail them from their goal.

Since then, Elias was getting open every few instants, Gionta was showing the world he can do it all, and Gomez was the best he’s ever been.

Yet Burns repeatedly declined to keep that line together on the power play, when it could do its most damage. Instead, he replaced catalyst Gionta with Grant Marshall to provide size and screening in front, at significant sacrifice.

Then, in a futile search for something, anything, that might work inside Saturday’s defeat, he broke up Gomez and Elias, pointedly, during one power play.

There stands the two-way street. The coach was trying to win that game, but the bigger picture is that he shockingly failed to display faith in his two main offensive engines – and without desired effect.

Elias is heading into the second game of this trip having scored only eight of his 28 goals this season on the road, a figure reminiscent of 2001-02, when the “A” Line was abysmal as visitors, one factor that led to its premature breakup.

It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. They don’t score in the first 30 minutes of a road trip, so they’re used less, even broken up momentarily, and see? They didn’t score.

No, this is the time for Burns to nurture this wonder weapon, patiently. Stick with them, overload them, and give them every chance.